Politicians often get criticized for posturing and spin, for worrying more about how their votes appear in the public eye than how their votes actually impact peoples' lives.
Seventy-three-year-old freshman Republican State Rep. Noel Campbell probably can't be accused of that, acknowledging earlier this week that he "regrets" voting for the budget and that he's sorry he wasn't able to make a bigger impact for schools.
"I want to give them (public schools) more funding. I do think they are bare bones, I really do. And I'm sorry that I was not able to make an impact in that area," Campbell said. "I did talk, I did argue. I mean I'm not a tax-raising guy. I'm a conservative. I'm a Republican. But there are certain things government has to fund. Education is one of them.... But I'm sorry we couldn't go that extra step. I hope next session we can convince the governor to raise some revenue so we can get it into the education system."
The budget that was passed makes deep cuts to universities and hospitals and leaves K-12 schools with an overall net loss of funds when including factors of inflation and enrollment growth.
Supporters of the budget have countered that it is fiscally responsible, void of gimmicks, and in the case of schools, amounts to a 20 percent increase in general fund investment in K-12 since 2010.
Voters may interpret Campbell's regret in one of two ways: Either they appreciate his honesty and unwillingness to spin a grim economic reality facing the state. Or they may be asking why he voted yes for a budget that he knew he would regret.
"I voted for it because if we hadn't gotten this budget done it would have been scattered all over the place," Campbell said. "Because our budget has to mirror the budget over at the Senate. It would have taken us weeks or who knows.... I wish it could have been done differently, but I did support it."
Campbell says he justified the cuts to universities because "they are in the best position to take cuts because they have the ability to raise money."
His comments also appear to reflect the unsavory role many Republican lawmakers filled by ultimately supporting the governor's broader goals of fiscal prudence but realizing there would be backlash, especially from the education community.
Campbell admits he can't keep up with the flood of emails from constituents since Saturday.
"There are a lot of conservative people with kids who are disappointed." he said. "I'm disappointed. I was told there was no mood for raising fees or taxes.... The process is not fun. I think it was hard for all of us.... But we did something. Maybe it wasn't the best thing, but it was step forward."
Campbell, a retired federal law-enforcement officer, represents a broad geographical group of communities including Anthem, Black Canyon City, Prescott, Ash Fork, Seligman and Yarnell.
